Introduction

• Mass media refers to any medium or technology used to communicate with an audience on a large scale
• Mass media refers to any medium of mass communication such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, posters, etc.
• Media refers to all forms of communication that reach large audiences through mass distribution channels such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, films, music, video games, social media, etc.
• Digital media encompasses online platforms, social media, websites, and mobile applications for information dissemination.
• Media refers to all forms of communication that can be used to transmit information or entertainment from one person to another
• Broadcast media involves the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via radio or television.
• The media is the means by which information, ideas and messages are communicated to people.
• Print media includes newspapers, magazines, and brochures that deliver information through printed material.
• Establishing shot (ES): sets the scene from a long way away
• long shot (LS): shows the whole of a person
• mid shot (MS): shows the person from the waist up
• close up shot (CU): shows just the persons head and shoulders
• extreme close up shot (ECU): shows just a part of a person
• birds eye shot: the camera is directly above the action
• worms eye shot: the camera is directly below the action
• high angle shot: the camera is above the action, looking down at it
• low angle shot: the camera is below the action, looking up at it
• narrative: the way that events are presented to the audience
• story: the basic outline of connected events
• plot: specific events that happen
• mass audience: when media products are sometimes created to appeal to a large audience
• niche audience: when media products are aimed at a small, specific group of people
• demographics: statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within it
• lifestyle: the way in which a person lives and the choices they make
• ideology: a system of ideas and ideals, especially are which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy
• anchorage: linking signs to make meaning clear
• icon: a sign that looks or sounds like the thing it refers to
• symbol: a sign that doesn’t look or sound anything like things its refers to
• De Saussure= signifier/ signified
• Charles Peirce= signifier/ signified+ interpretation
• Roland Barthes= denotation/ connotation + myths =ideology. e.g. children need to be protected, woman are weak and need protection and bacteria is bad and must be killed
• codes: anything that makes up part of the media text- image, word, colour etc
• conventions: the way that codes are used in the media text
• polysemic: a code that has more than one meaning
• media products are constructed by selecting and combining elements of media language. each element- such as colour, camera shot or sound- is a sign that conveys meaning. when these media product elements are combined, the meanings become increasingly clear. on their own, each aspect of media language could have several meanings- they could be a polysemic- but the meanings are anchored by putting the aspects together
• for a code to work it needs signs, rules and shared understanding
• signs: the things we see or hear
• rules: the ways in which signs can be organised. these become the conventions within each media format
• shared understanding: the people sending and receiving the code both need to understand it
• newspapers have a masthead across the top of the front page and a photograph with each major story